Obstetrics is the branch of medicine and surgery concerned with childbirth and midwifery. Although most pregnancies are incident free, some problems may occur and affect the health of the mother and her child. Thanks to antenatal obstetric consultations most of these problems can be detected and treated, if necessary. In some cases, it may be necessary to stop the labour which has begun before term or induce the delivery.
Premature births are a very important cause of mortality in newborns. To avoid premature deliver, the mother will need to rest and sometimes need medicinal products which can stop the contractions by relaxing the uterine muscles. Conversely, in the case of pre-eclampsia, bleeding at the end of pregnancy, poor foetal growth, uterine atony or prolonged pregnancy, some medicinal products can be administered in order to induce the delivery.
In the case of an incomplete abortion, caesarean or after expulsion of the placenta, uterine haemorrhage can occur if there is little uterine tonus. Medicinal products which stop the haemorrhage must then be administered at the same time as agents which will induce uterine muscles contractions.